ROSTOV-ON-DON/KYIV – The North Caucasus District Military Court has convicted Ukrainian citizen Oleksiy Syzonovych, who is accused of involvement in plotting terrorist acts in Russia’s southern Rostov region, and has sentenced him to 12 years in a high-security penitentiary, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom.
“The court found Syzonovych guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in a high-security correctional facility and also ordered him to pay a fine of 250,000 rubles,” the presiding judge said when reading out the court ruling.
The Ukrainian was convicted on charges of preparations for a terrorist act, illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation and possession of explosive substances and explosive devices and illegal crossing of the Russian state border.
The state prosecutor had requested a 12-year term in a high-security penitentiary and a fine of 250,000 rubles for Syzonovych.
Investigators claim that in April 2014, Syzonovych and unknown individual set up an organized group in Kyiv, agreeing to commit terrorist attacks in Russia and Ukraine. The person, whom investigators had been unable to identify, ran the group, while the defendant collected information about transport infrastructure facilities and prepared various explosive devices due to possessing special skills in explosion engineering.
According to investigators, in late May 2016, Syzonovych had been given an order to go to the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region, to survey and take pictures of the local railroad station, as well as determine the place to plant explosive devices. A terrorist attack at the railroad station was planned for September 2016.
Law enforcement officials detained the defendant. He has been held in custody since Sept. 28, 2016.
Syzonovych pleaded guilty during the trial. His lawyer asked the court to take this circumstance into consideration and mitigate his sentence as much as possible.
According to Ukrainian media, Syzonovych, aged 61, is a pensioner and has health problems. In addition to the charges of preparing terrorist attacks in the Rostov region, Russian investigators claim that before that he allegedly blew up trains in the territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists in Luhansk oblast, where he was captured by separatosts. A month later he was detained by Russian border guards.
